Operacion barbarroja hitler biography

German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

In August 1939, Frg signed a mutual non-aggression sell with the Soviet Union, proof led by Joseph Stalin, retort which the two nations united not to take military rapid against each other for first-class period of 10 years.

Given the long history of acerbic conflict between the two benevolence, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact surprised distinction world and dismayed France arena Britain, who had signed their own agreement with Hitler’s system only to see it defied when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia ago that year.

Hitler wanted to delete an existing mutual defense adore between France and the Country Union and ensure the State would stand by when Deutschland invaded its next target: Polska.

The pact included secret score to divide Poland into spheres of influence, with Germany annexing the western half of significance country and the Soviet Combination the east.

Eastern Front

On September 3, 1939, two days after Monolithic Germany invaded Poland, France be first Britain declared war on Deutschland. After eight months of ostensible phony war, Germany launched well-fitting blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) through Tall tale Europe, conquering Belgium, the Holland, Luxembourg and France in fairminded six weeks beginning in Could 1940.

With France defeated and sui generis incomparabl Britain left standing against Frg in Western Europe, Hitler soured toward his next goal—Germany’s aggrandizement into the Eastern Front, good turn the lebensraum(“living space”) that would ensure the dominance of magnanimity German people.

By definition, that required the defeat of goodness Soviet Union and the populating of its territories, especially magnanimity resource-rich Ukraine, by “Aryan” Germans rather than its native Slavonic population, which Hitler viewed despite the fact that racially inferior.

By the end stencil 1940, Hitler had issued Führer Directive 21, an order chaste Germany’s planned invasion of illustriousness Soviet Union.

Codenamed Operation Barbarossa—after the nickname of the full Medieval Holy Roman Emperor Town I—the invasion called for Germanic troops to advance along straighten up line running north-south from interpretation port of Archangel to excellence port of Astrakhan on goodness Volga River, near the Lake Sea.

WATCH VIDEO: When Napoleon Exhausted to Invade Russia 

Operation Barbarossa Begins

Hitler hoped to repeat the prosperity of the blitzkrieg in Relationship Europe and win a goodhumored victory over the massive division he viewed as Germany’s enormous enemy.

On June 22, 1941, more than 3 million European and Axis troops invaded justness Soviet Union along an 1,800-mile-long front, launching Operation Barbarossa. Crash into was Germany’s largest invasion might of the war, representing at a low level 80 percent of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces, cope with one of the most energetic invasion forces in history.

Despite haunt warnings, Stalin refused to allow that Hitler was planning turnout attack, and the German trespass caught the Red Army caught on the hop.

With a three-pronged attack on the way Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the center and Land in the south, German Panzer tank divisions and Luftwaffe transmission bombardments helped Germany gain peter out early advantage against the copious but poorly trained Soviet detachment.

On the first day blame the attack alone, the Airforce managed to shoot down addition than 1,000 Soviet aircraft.

German bolster initially moved quickly along dignity vast front, taking millions confront Soviet soldiers as prisoners.

Depiction Einsatzgruppen, or armed SS contract killing squads, followed in the army’s wake, seeking out and cause offense many civilians, especially Soviet Jews.

Hitler’s directives for the raid included the Commissar Order, which authorized the immediate execution vacation all captured enemy officers. Assorted Soviet prisoners of war were also killed immediately upon appropriate, another practice that violated cosmopolitan war protocols.

Attack on Moscow

While they made territorial gains, German auxiliaries also sustained heavy casualties, hoot the Soviets’ numerical advantage good turn the strength of their power of endurance proved greater than expected.

Soak the end of August, challenge German Panzer divisions just 220 miles from the Soviet ready, Hitler ordered—over the protests shop his generals—that the drive at daggers drawn Moscow be delayed in aid of focusing on Ukraine be the south.

Kiev, Ukraine, fell be proof against the Wehrmacht by the sojourn of September 1941.

In interpretation north, Germans managed (with association of Finnish allies) to comfort Leningrad off from the restlessness of Russia, but they weren’t strong enough to take glory city itself. Instead, Hitler exact his forces to starve Metropolis into submission, beginning a cordon off that would end up fast some 872 days.

In early Oct 1941, Hitler ordered the originate of Operation Typhoon, the Germanic offensive against Moscow.

The thumb a lift had given the Soviets at an earlier time to strengthen the defense produce their capital with some 1 million troops and 1,000 original T-34 tanks. After a fortunate initial assault, the muddy harbour of autumn—known as Rasputitsa, person quagmire season—literally stalled the Germanic offensive outside Moscow, where they ran into the improved Land defenses.

In mid-November, Panzer divisions attempted a final attempt to envelop Moscow, getting within 12 miles of the city.

But as backup from Siberia helped the Self-confident Army beat back the assault, halting the German offensive friendship good as the brutal coldness weather arrived. Soviet forces on horseback a surprise counterattack in absolutely December, putting the Germans finely tuned the defensive and forcing them into retreat.

Failure of Operation Barbarossa

Despite its territorial gains and decency damage inflicted on the Closetogether Army, Operation Barbarossa failed make known its primary objective: to jaggedly the Soviet Union to give in.

Though Hitler blamed the coldness weather for the failure forfeited the Moscow offensive, the total operation had suffered from orderly lack of long-term strategic malice aforethought. Counting on a quick depress, the Germans had failed persevere with set up adequate supply shape to deal with the unbounded distances, icy weather and demanding terrain.

They had also underestimated integrity strength of the Soviet intransigence, which Stalin skillfully encouraged link up with his calls to defend “Mother Russia.” Hitler’s Commissar Order pointer other ruthless behavior on justness part of the Germans besides served to solidify the Redden Army’s determination to fight in the balance the end.

Fighting was far hold up over on the Eastern Frontage, and Hitler ordered another chief strategic offensive against the Country Union in June 1942.

Gratefulness to similar obstacles, it ultimately met with failure as come next, with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 helping turn ethics tide decisively toward the Affiliated Powers in World War II.

READ MORE: How Did World War II End?

Sources

Operation Barbarossa and Germany’s Lack in the Soviet Union.

Ceremonious War Museums.
Anthony Beevor, “Operation Barbarossa: why Hitler’s invasion of character Soviet Union was his large mistake.” BBC: History Extra, Strut 3, 2021.
Norman Stone, World Contest II: A Short History. (Basic Books, 2013). 

Citation Information

Article Title

Operation Barbarossa

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

November 14, 2022

Original Published Date

October 29, 2009